Stone buddha sits in front of tall green grass with orange flowers

Kindness to Ourselves and Others

Suffering is more than the first noble truth of Buddhism. To see our own and others' suffering is the first step on the path, the birthplace of compassion. Judy Lief offers guidance on the journey.

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Sharon Salzberg and Susan Piver teach a columnist how to do loving-kindness meditation for Donald Trump

It's a question that's on many minds these days: what's with Donald Trump?

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Practicing Loving-Kindness in the Face of Danger

When “Luis” came in, something about his movements put everyone in my classroom on high alert.

How to Foster Equanimity: Sit Like a Mountain

Sharon Salzberg teaches on why equanimity is important, and how to foster it.

Watch as Sharon Salzberg teaches “Street Loving-kindness”

In this new video, meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg shows how to bring the mind of loving-kindness to the fore.

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Pema Chödrön: join me in practicing tonglen for Nepal

Pema Chödrön has joined a number of other Buddhist figures in addressing the suffering in Nepal.

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Tonglen: In with the Bad, Out with the Good

“Accepting and sending out” is a powerful meditation to develop compassion—for ourselves and others. Ethan Nichtern teaches Tonglen practice.

A person meditating in the sun.

Loving-Kindness Starts with You

Josh Korda on how to free your naturally loving heart and expand your goodwill to include all beings through loving-kindness meditation.

May All Beings Be at Ease!

In the Metta Sutta, the Buddha teaches his monks how to live a moral and upright life, with metta at its center.

Why I Do Metta

Janice Lynne Lundy shares her perspective on the practice of loving-kindness – why she loves it, and why it goes with her everywhere.

Macaroni Art — Karen Maezen Miller on Joyful Giving

Karen Maezen Miller looks at why generosity is the starting place of all the virtues.

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What Makes Us Free?

Insight. Loving-kindness. Cultivating what’s wholesome. And making them real in our lives every day. These are what make us free, say Insight Meditation teachers Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, in a conversation at California’s Spirit Rock Meditation Center, moderated by Michelle Latvala.

From The Under 35 Project: “The Case for Kindness”

There's another perspective of kindness that is so common it often goes unnoticed: a simple sense of being of the same kind.

The No-Escape Button

Rather than try to escape from painful feelings, Alixa Doom started practicing tonglen at her job at a psychiatric hospital.

School violence: Can this Buddhist practice make a difference?

Could the Buddhist practice of metta, or lovingkindness meditation, make a difference in school violence? Teacher Russell Evans says yes.

Lavender flowers in field

La Bienveillance

From the November 2012 issue of Lion's Roar, Trudy Goodman gives a short teaching on "la bienveillance", the French concept of metta. 

From The Under 35 Project: “Smiling at Strangers”

Here's the latest from The Under 35 Project, by Leslie Gossett, about the power of creating your own story.

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I Want To Be… Loving

We all want to be loved, yes, but our most heartfelt wish is to love, deeply and universally. If this seems like an unreachable ideal, says Thanissaro Bhikkhu, the place to start—and often the most skillful response—is the simple attitude of goodwill.

Thai monk with hands folded.

Protecting Others by Protecting Goodwill

Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains what the Buddha actually said about metta, the phrase often translated as “lovingkindness."

Thai monk with hands folded.

When Goodwill is Better than Love: The Meaning of “Metta.”

Loving-kindness is a common translation of the Pali word "metta." But what if metta and lovingkindness are not quite the same?